President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated Wednesday the twin elevated U-turns along Circumferential Road – 5 (C-5)
The President led the inaugural drive-through with Metro Manila Development Corporation (MMDA) Chair Bayani Fernando.
The twin elevated U turns is expected to ease the movement of vehicles along the C-5’s crossing with Kalayaan Avenue at Barangay East Rembo in Makati City.
Also present during inauguration ceremonies held at the north-side U-turn (Phase II) of the two-phase interchange project were Mayor Freddie Tinga and Rep. Jun Duenas of Taguig City; Mayor Joey Medina of Pateros; Rep. Del de Guzman and Rep. Marcelino Teodoro of Marikina City; Rep. Roman Romulo and Vice Mayor Rosalio Martirez of Pasig City; and East Rembo (Makati City) Brgy. Captain Art Contreras.
Fernando reported to the President that the project took a total of 10-and-a-half months to build. Phase I at the south side took six months to construct; while Phase II at the north side took four-and-a-half months to complete.
Fernando assured that the “new and unorthodox” interchange scheme featuring the twin elevated U-turns is “not a simple cross-over but a complete interchange” that occupies less space than a cloverleaf overpass.
The elevated U-turn scheme, Bayani explained, saved the government P1 billion a year in maintenance and other recurring costs as the newly-completed interchange “would not require any human supervision” nor 24-hour lighting, as would have been needed in a tunnel scheme.
The new interchange scheme also speeds up travel time in the former traffic bottleneck area to 43.8 kilometers per hour, while a tunnel would have clocked only 31.6 kph, said Fernando.
Strategically located at the immediate common boundary of Taguig, Pateros, Pasig and Makati cities, the scheme turned the C-5-Kalayaan intersection into a “stand-alone interchange which means that traffic enforcers will no longer be necessary,” according to the MMDA’s project brief.
Because “no traffic signal facilities will be needed, there will be no more need for 24-hour lighting, ventilation and water-pump system as (required by) a tunnel,” the MMDA added.
Also, “under the scheme, vehicles from all directions going to any destination will be continuously moving… resulting in higher travel speed and decreased travel time, thus saving in fuel,” according to MMDA project manager Cora Cruz who explained that the face-to-face “bridges” cost P300 million at P150 million each, and the “footbridge and geometric improvements” will cost an additional P50 million.
Phase I (Taguig side) was completed on August 1, 2008; while Phase II (Pasig side) was started on Dec. 2, 2008 and completed on April 17, 2009.
PGMA congratulates 1,500 new town scholars
Looking fresh from her successful journey to Egypt and Syria, a vibrant President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo awarded scholarship certificates to 1,500 incoming college freshmen under the One Town, One Scholar (OTOS) program at Malacanang’s Heroes Hall.
The President wearing matching light blue skirt and blouse, gamely posed for photos with the scholars and even stopped by each cocktail table congratulating the lucky students.
On her way to picking up a small plate of food for herself, the President stopped by the table of Joy Macapagal, a 3rd honor graduate from the Rosales Municipal High School of Rosales, Pangasinan. Her mother could not contain her tears of joy as she thanked the President for the “great opportunity that Mrs. Arroyo gave to my daughter -- mahirap talaga kami (We really are very poor),” she said.
The young student will take up mass communications, one of the courses approved by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for the OTOS program. She will take up her course at UP Baguio, after which she plans to serve her municipality in whatever job will be given her.
Her father, Cipriano Macapagal, a rubber slippers vendor at the Rosales Public Market and had just come from an endoscopy treatment in Tarlac for his severe ulcers.
The OTOS fulfills the Arroyo government’s objective of providing education for all. Initiated two years ago, it ensures that a deserving high school graduate in every municipality will have a college education.
The OTOS program involves the awarding of four-to-five year scholarships to incoming freshmen who had been selected by the municipality as the “town scholar.”
Under the program, applicants belonging to the Top 10 of every graduating class submit letters of application to their respective schools, subject to the program’s minimum requirements and to the screening and selection process agreed upon by the municipality/town head and the Department of Education (DepEd).
The mayor then endorses the selected town scholar which evaluates the qualifications of the town’s nominee prior to the final issuance of scholarship certificates.
The town scholar, as committed by the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC), shall be entitled to free tuition in a state university or college provided the scholar passes the SUC’s entrance exam and requirements.
Stipends of P15,000 per semester will be provided by CHED for SY 2009-2010 and every year thereafter for four to five years, subject to availability of funds in the general appropriations act.
The scholar must enroll only in CHED-identified priority programs and preferably in an SUC in or near the sponsoring municipality.
DOH: quarantine helps contain H1N1 virus
People coming into the country should not worry about quarantine, the Department of Health said Wednesday.
At the press conference in Malacanang, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III assured all means are being done to protect the public from Influenza A otherwise known as H1N1.
“Ito pong proseso ng pagkwa-kwarantina, ay hindi po eto para mapahamak o ilagay sa alanganin ang ating mga mamamayan. Ito ay talagang recognized mandato ng Bureau of Quarantine na siguraduhing maprotektahan ang mga exposed at yung magkakaroon ng sakit, bigyan ng lunas, bigyan ng tamang pangangalaga (The quarantine process is placed not to put people in danger nor in an embarrassing situation. This is a recognized mandate of the Bureau of Quarantine to ensure that the exposed and those who will be sick receive proper treatment and care.),” said Duque.
All passengers entering airports and seaports will undergo thermal screening: quarantine protocols will be imposed on those who have fever and other suspected H1N1 infection symptoms.
From her successful Middle-Eastern trip, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her delegation went through thermal screening just like any ordinary passenger coming through the country’s entry points when she arrived Wednesday morning at the NAIA Terminal 2.
She went straight to the inauguration of a C5 road project after passing the thermal screening.
Duque encouraged Filipinos from countries identified as afflicted zones and who are planning to come home to observe self-quarantine and social distancing to avoid catching the new virus.
Once these people from afflicted areas arrive in Philippine entry point, Duque said that “they will do what they need to do based on the Bureau of Quarantine’s provisions and law.”
“Kung kinakailangan tulugan yung mga tao ay hindi dapat makihalubilo ay kailangan natin ipatupad yun (If it is necessary to isolate them, then we have to implement it),” said Duque.
DOH has 10 people under observation for H1N1 infect since May 1.
Five of which are quarantined at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicines (RITM), San Lazaro Hospital and Vicente Sotto Medical Center.
But Duque clarified that these people are suspected but not necessarily infected and have to be quarantined.
Two of them are adult Filipinos, the next two are boys from South Korea and the fifth is an adult female from the United Kingdom.
The rest of those were placed under observation were tested negative of H1N1.
Duque assured that the Philippines remains free from Influenza A virus.
Palace: P25-M fund to stop political killings gives more teeth to law enforcers
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is determined to end political killings which is why she put up the Php25-million fund, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters Wednesday.
“To show the resolve of the national leadership to put a stop to all these killings, whether political, or killings of militants or killings of media people,” said Ermita, “We have to arrest the trend because it is not good in the first place and therefore that amount would apply to all the measures that different government agencies should take and would be taking so that we have more resources to back up such measures to be taken by any of the security agencies.”
The fund, Ermita said, would support procurement of equipment and training that would help law enforcement agencies perform their duties.
Ermita said agencies benefiting from the fund are either the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) acting through the Philippine National Police, the Department of National Defense through the Armed Forces of the Philippines, or even the Secretary of Justice through the National Bureau of Investigation.
With fund available now, Ermita said agencies won’t complain of issues such as lack resources for forensics or lack of support for witness protection program.
He recalled the time, at the height of the Alston visit, the President released P25 million through the Commission on Human Rights to demonstrate her seriousness in addressing human rights concerns raised by different sectors against the government.
Ermita also mentioned the Php 1 Million reward that President offered to find the killers of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Ramon Aquino and Director Lassam of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Region 2.
VP Noli asks Marinduquenos to help country weather the global crunch
At least 200 local chief executives, officials of line agencies, and representatives of sectoral groups in the province were present during the program held at the Audio Visual Room of the Marinduque State College in Boac, Marinduque.
The Vice-President, who is also the Cabinet officer for Regional Development (CORD) for Region IV-B (MIMAROPA), discussed the prevailing global economic crisis, the Philippine economic situation which is more resilient compared to other countries, and the programs and projects being implemented by the Arroyo government to weather the ill effects of the plunging of the world economy.
In his statement, De Castro reported that based on the report of the Department of Labor and Employment, only three (3) people from Marinduque have lost their jobs due to the crisis. He said, “huwag po tayong magpakampante”, instead, “tulong-tulong tayo” to overcome the current global economic crunch that have pushed the rate of unemployment to rise worldwide, and placed big companies in the US into a state of bankruptcy.
To help the province weather the economic storm, Vice President De Castro presented the various programs and projects of the Arroyo administration in Marinduque for years 2009-2010.
Included in the list are the following: P8M Farm-to-Market road in Buenavista, Marinduque; Additional benefits for PhilHealth, GSIS and Pag-ibig members; Additional Tax exemptions for minimum wage earners and increase of personal exemptions of employees; Conditional Cash Transfer program/ Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (c/o DSWD); TESDA Scholarship and Training programs; Comprehensive Livelihood and Economic Program (CLEEP); Comprehensive Product Development Program (c/o DTI); and Dr. Damian Reyes Memorial Hospital – modernization of the operating room and completion of the hospital diagnostic building .
Other projects he also mentioned are the P21.9M fund for school buildings (c/o DepEd and DPWH); Tourism Promotion and Marketing (c/o DOT); P1.5M Calamity Fund (c/o NDCC); Provision of two (2) Ambulance units; P9M Irrigation project; 11 locations in Marinduque being considered as sites of composting facilities for the production of organic fertilizers; Trainings on Organic Vegetable production (c/o DA); Training on Semi-Organic vegetable production in all municipalities of Marinduque; Provision of post-harvest facilities (3 plant bed dryers, establishment of seven (7) bagsakan centers with cold change storage); Training on tilapia fry and hatchery (c/o BFAD); Establishment of seaweed nursery (c/o DA); Provision of fishing gears (BFAR); Development of Marinduque Airport ; Extension of SLEX and STARS; Construction and improvement of municipal ports; Assistance to the development of the Marinduque Wildlife Sanctuary; and Advance training for tourism personnel.
For his part, Governor Jose Antonio “Bong” Carreon said Marindque is blessed as no less than Vice President Noli De Castro visited the province as representative of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This only shows, according to him, the sincerity of the Arroyo government in helping develop Marinduque and deter the possible ill-effects of the crisis in the global economy. He is also thankful that the national government has always been supportive in the development of Marinduque. (PIA)
